Data released by the Bank of Korea on Tuesday revealed a 0.6% quarter-on-quarter expansion in South Korea's real gross domestic product (GDP) for the second quarter, fueled by robust exports and investments tied to artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
On an annual basis, GDP grew 3.7% in the April-to-June period, maintaining the momentum seen in the first quarter's 3.8% rise. While the quarterly figure aligned with the central bank's preliminary estimate issued last month, construction investment and intellectual property investment growth rates were each revised upward by 0.1 percentage points, whereas government consumption growth was trimmed by 0.1 percentage points.
South Korea's nominal GDP for the second quarter climbed 9.2% quarter-on-quarter and surged 26.4% year-on-year, marking the fastest pace since a 27.7% spike recorded in the third quarter of 1979. Additionally, the data showed that nominal gross national income (GNI) per capita grew 8.8% quarter-on-quarter and 26.4% year-on-year during the same period.
Real GNI advanced 3.1% on a quarterly basis and 15.6% annually, representing the highest growth rate since the fourth quarter of 1988, when real GNI had jumped 15.7% year-on-year. Given the sustained positive growth trajectory, the Bank of Korea has revised its economic growth forecast for 2026 upward to 3.3%, underpinned by expectations of continued strong export performance driven by the ongoing semiconductor supercycle.
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